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Jean-Claude Frécon: “We should use the potential of new technologies to improve our democracy”

Jean-Claude Frécon: “We should use the potential of new technologies to improve our democracy”[25/03/2013]

During his communication at the opening of the Session of the Chamber of Local Authorities, on 20 March 2013, Jean-Claude Frécon, the President of the Chamber, introduced the debate “Smart cities: new technologies serving democracy” by underlining the significant potential of new technologies to improve the quality of democracy. He stated, in particular, that “If we wish to avoid a split between a tired representative democracy, losing its intensity and capacity to mobilise people, and a civil society disconnected from the political sphere, we, as political players, must be able to develop the potential before our own eyes, which is such as to make these new forms of participation possible”. “I feel certain”, he added, “that we must not let this development pass us by, as it should enable us to give a new dimension to our democracies, increase participation and give them a new life”.